After the Last Hope
by Pupachu
Summary: Nobody knows what happens after the battle in the Last Hope. This is my version of what will happen to all the characters, as well as some new ones. They have to deal with scarred older cats, drama, and, of course, love.
1. Prologue

The wind howled through the thin cover of the trees in the night sky. Leaves trembled, and the rain fell down in a torrent. The flooded river roared in the distance, and the brown tabby she-cat crouched down.

Her three kits let out a terrified whimper. The tabby bent down and licked each of their faces, murmuring comfort. The sky was lit up with a huge lightning, and thunder clapped the forest.

The cat didn't want to leave her kits alone in the storm, but the small family hadn't eaten in nearly two days. She knew that her kits wouldn't survive much longer, and although the prey would most likely be underground, but she had to.

"Stay here, my loves." She bent down and nuzzled each of them. "Don't move. I will be right back." As she said her goodbye, a terrible pain wrenched her heart. iWhy is this happening?/i she thought worridly. It was as if she knew something terrible would happen. "I'll-I'll be right back. With food to help me feed you."

Backing away from her kits slowly, the tabby lost sight of her 3 precious kits in the rain. iPlease, don't let the river get any higher,/i she prayed. iPlease let them be safe…/i

The biggest kit, a brown tabby tom, stood up on his shaky legs. He and his sisters were only a moon old, but they had been through a lot already. Their father being taken away by the strange, hairless creatures. Their mother being viciously attacked. Becoming hungry. A pain pierced his stomach. Their hunger was slowly taking over them.

"Come-come on," he mewed through shaky teeth. "Let's go…go find mum."

"B-but-" his sister squeaked, "she told us to stay here."

A gust of wind sent the kits' shelter flying. Suddenly tossed into the air, the tom squealed as his sister crashed into him. Terror overtook him, and he took off flying through the trees. "Wait for us!" his smallest sister screeched.

The kit had been through the thin forest plenty of times. It was his home, and their was nothing loners knew better than their homes. But the kit didn't expect the water to be so close to the Big Rock.

He splashed through the river. The current was strong, and suddenly his world was turned upside down. "Help!" he cried as his head bobbed above the surface for a heartbeat. He swallowed a mouthful of water, and he fought every instinct to breathe in.

There was nothing as strange to the kit as being underwater. Sounds muffled, yet loud. Being tossed around, and the worst part, not knowing where his mother or sisters were.

As his head broke the surface yet again, he screeched. He could tell they had traveled a long way. None of the land looked familiar to him. iA branch!/i he thought suddenly. His mother had always taught him to grab onto branches when stranded in the water.

Using the last scrap of energy the young kit had, he clambered onto the small, but lifesaving branch. His fur was heavy, and he was more tired than he had ever been, but he was saved. Saved!

By now the rain had stopped, now only a soft drizzle. The wind still howled, and the river roared around him.

"Help! Sisters!" he cried out, swallowing some more water.

"What the…?"

The unfamiliar voices rang through the kit's head.

"There's ikits/i in the river!" a she-cat gasped.

"Petalfur, come on, we need to help them!" the first voice cried. The kit heard a cat splash into the river, and teeth dug into his scruff. He let himself become limp in the cat's jaws.

Looking over, the kit saw that the cat named Petalfur was swimming to another branch with two tiny kits on it. iThere they are,/i he thought in relief.

"Are you okay?" the life-saving cat asked gently.

"Wh-where am-am I?" he asked, voice shaking.

"You're at the RiverClan camp."

The kit was too tired to ask what a RiverClan was, or what a camp was. He closed his eyes, and sleep took over him.

The tabby she-cat darted to where she'd left her kits. The shelter was gone, and there was no sign of the kits. iNo!/i The tabby bent down, to find a scent, but the rain washed everything away. iNo…no…no…this cant be happening!/i

"No!" she wailed into the cloudy sky, becoming lighter as dawn approached. "Why?"

With a sense of dread, the she-cat realized that she may never find her kits again.


	2. Chapter 1

Falconkit burrowed into her mother's side, where she felt the safest. As she dozed off again, she remembered how much she wanted to leave the nursery and see the outside world and most of all, become a warrior.

But first, she had to open her eyes. Her ears had opened a few sunrises ago. That was how she could tell that her name was Falconkit, or that she had a brother named Robinkit. She had learned that her mother's name was Rosepetal, and that her father's name was Foxleap.

Robinkit rolled over onto the smaller kit. She let out a squeak of alarm, and her eyes flashed open.

The nursery was quiet. Brightheart's kits were out in the camp, probably playing their warrior game. Cinderheart was sleeping in a nest not far from Rosepetal's, and Daisy was nowhere to be seen.

She tipped her head up. The roof of the nursery was far above her head. iWow,/i she thought. /iThat's the biggest thing I've ever seen!/i

Falconkit looked over at her brother and mother. Her mother's fur was a cream color. Robinkit's fur was a dark brown, but a pale ginger spot on his chest.

She looked down at her own fur. It was a pale gray. On her paws and chest, the gray grew lighter.

"Robinkit," she hissed. That was the first time she'd ever used her voice. It was shaky, but Falconkit loved it.

Robinkit's eyes flitted open. "F-Falconkit?"

"Great! You've opened your eyes!" she sqeaked in excitement.

As if in tune, Robinkit leaped to his paws. But his jump was so strong it knocked him off his paws.

"Don't do that again," Falconkit purred in amusement.

Rosepetal stirred. Falconkit looked back at her mother. She remembered that Rosepetal had no idea that they could now open their own eyes.

"You two! You've opened your eyes!" she mewed in delight. Her intense green eyes seemed to see right through Falconkit. iAre my eyes like that?/i she wondered.

"Yes!" Robinkit cried. "Let's go and explore the forest!" Falconkit looked at her brother. He had soft, blue eyes. iWhat about mine?/i she wondered. iI want to know!/i

Rosepetal nudged the two out of the den. "I'll be right behind you this whole time. It's time to meet your Clanmates."

Falconkit and Robinkit crept out of the den. Strong morning sunlight burned their eyes, but warmed their pelts.

On the other side of camp, she could see 3 kits playing. "That must be Amberkit, Snowkit, and Dewkit!" she gasped.

Robinkit squinted. "You're right!"

"Let's go surprise them!" Falconkit charged over to her Denmates on shaky paws. iWow! I'm running! /ishe thought in exhilaration. iOne step closer to becoming a warrior./i But her clumsy paws became all tangled up, and Falconkit tumbled onto her face.

She heard a imrrow/i of laughter. Dewkit was standing right over her, with his other brother and sister on either side.

"I can tell it's your first time out of the nursery," he said with an edge. "But welcome to ThunderClan camp!" Falconkit realized her denmates were very, very big.

As Falconkit looked around, she realized the stone hollow and the sky were the biggest things she'd ever seen. The sky stretched endlessly all about, and the hollow was much, much higher than her. She suddenly felt very small.

"Do you want us to show you around?" Amberkit asked. Her voice was as soft as she looked; she wouldn't be able to hurt a fly.

"Yes!" Robinkit yipped. "Please!"

"Okay," Falconkit growled reluctantly. She didn't think Dewkit or Snowkit would ever let her accident go.

"Come on, get up," Amberkit murmured. Her ginger fur seemed to glow in the rays of the sun.

The three older kits led them to a small den made out of honeysuckle branches. "This is the elders' den," Snowkit explained. "Elders are old cats who've served their Clan long enough to get to rest the rest of their lives."

"So they're useless?" Robinkit asked.

Dewkit rolled his eyes. "No," he said in exasperation. "They've served their Clan, so-"

"Who's out there?"

The strange voice made Falconkit freeze. Amberkit bounded inside the den, and then stopped. "Well, what are you waiting for? Come on!"

Falconkit crept into the den. As she followed Amberkit, and with the rest of the kits behind her, she entered a large den.

"Welcome to the elders' den!"

A pale ginger she-cat stood up. There were white hairs on her muzzle. iShe must be old./i

"Rosepetal's kits, eh?" she asked, bending down to lick each of the kits' head.

"Yes," Falconkit mewed shyly. "I'm Falconkit, and this is-"

"I'm Robinkit!" Robinkit said, puffing his chest out proudly. "This is the first time we've come out of the nursery."

The ginger cat let out a imrrow/i of laughter. "Oh, I know."

"Who are you?" Falconkit asked curiously.

"I'm Sandstorm." The she-cat blinked, then sweeped her tail around the den. "These are my denmates."

"The fat tabby is Purdy!" Snowkit meowed, with a joking tone. "Don't get too interested in his stories. Some never end!"

Sandstorm cuffed the white tom around the ear with her paw. "Show some respect to the elders."

"Purdy didn't do anything for the Clan," Dewkit muttered. Falconkit shot him a glance, and she realized she was the only one who heard him.

"Anyways," Sandstorm continued, "the dark brown tom is Dustpelt. He's a grumpy cat, all right. The cat next to him is Graystripe. He may look mean, but he's got a great big heart."

The huge gray tom kicked his paw, and made a groaning noise.

"He always seems to be dreaming!" Amberkit purred.

"Try sleeping with him," Sandstorm mewed jokingly. "He never shuts up!"

"Was Firestar loud when he slept?" Snowkit asked.

Falconkit sensed tension in the air. As she looked into Sandstorm's eyes, she saw sadness reflected in them.

"Who-who was Firestar?" she asked quietly.

"My mate, and the former leader of ThunderClan," she said softly, her voice quivering. "He was killed by-by his enemy, Tigerstar."

"Oh." Falconkit suddenly wished she'd never asked.

"But, continuing on," Sandstorm said abruptly. "The golden brown tom is Brackenfur, and that's us elders." She nudged Amberkit towards the den entrance.

"'Bye, Sandstorm!" she called as she led the kits out.

"Why'd you ask such a stupid question?" Dewkit hissed. "You made her sad!"

"How was I supposed to know? I've only just opened my eyes!" Falconkit growled.

"I know how," Dewkit sneered. "You're just a stupid kit!" He turned around and zipped off.

"Oh, great StarClan," Snowkit muttered. "I've better go find him." The white tom turned and went after his brother, right into the heart of the fallen tree.

"Moving on," Amberkit said hurridley. "This is the fresh-kill pile." She led Robinkit and Falconkit to a small pile of assorted dead animals.

"It's not very big, because it's leaf-fall, but all the older cats say it's huge in Greenleaf!" she said. "I dream about Greenleaf every night.

"Greenleaf," Falconkit murmured. "It sure must be nice during that."

"Oh, it is."

Falconkit whipped around. A dark brown tabby she-cat with white patches was standing above her.

"Hi, Lilypaw!" Amberkit yipped, prancing up to the apprentice. "What'cha doin'?"

"I'm waiting for Dovewing to come," the small she-cat mewed. "She went hunting with Bumblestripe."

"I remember you and Dovewing!" Falconkit gasped.

"Yeah, you came to visit us the day our ears opened!" Robinkit mewed.

"Yes, yes we did." Lilypaw let out a purr. "Look, there's Dovewing."

Dovewing stormed over to Lilypaw and the kits. A pale gray tom followed her.

"Dovewing, I'm sorry!" he wailed. "I'm sorry I said the wrong thing!"

"I don't care!" she shot back. "I'm sick of you talking about every cat so terribly!"

"Dovewing, I love you!" he pleaded. "I've finally got what I wanted, and –"

"No!" Dovewing snapped. "I'm done with you. I don't love you!"

Falconkit shrank back, against her brother. She didn't know that Clanmates could fight and say things like that to each other.

"Come on, let's go…" Amberkit whispered, sliding away.

"Dovewing, are you okay?" Lilypaw asked.

"I'm fine," she snapped. "Some cats don't know how to act around other cats." She rolled her eyes. "I'm just-oh! Rosepetal's kits opened their eyes!"

She trotted over to the retreating cats. "Robinkit, Falconkit," she purred. "Welcome to ThunderClan, little ones."

"Thank you," Falconkit said very formally. She didn't want to say something wrong like that Bumblestripe said-whatever he did.

"come on, Lilypaw! Your warrior assessment is today, and we have to start it." She flicked her tail at the three kits. "Stay out of trouble!"


End file.
